HF Amplifier Control Pannel

I am building a 3kw amplifier for my amateur radio station, I am also using the Panlee 3.5" WT32-SC01 Plus module to interface with the amplifier. It will display some info like SWR, PWR, Band, Antanna, and Temperature / Fan State. I will use it to select the band in use, choose the antenna, put it in bypass, and do a few other little tricks.

The Panlee only has 6 GPIO pins, I will need much more than that. It also has RS485. Is there a method of using RS485 to communicate between two ESP32 boards? To use one as a master, and the other as a slave to expand on my GPIO?

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So, did a LOT of digging and I can save myself, and others some time.

RS485… Out the door. I2C is IN THE HOUSE!

Adafruit makes an MCP23017 I2C GPIO Expander Breakout. It’s also stackable for upto 8 modules. So, not only can I expand it. I can continue to expand it if I need to. Its simple, uses I2C, and adds 16 additional GPIO pins to the mix.

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Sounds like an interesting project! I’d be happy to see some screenshots about it. :slight_smile: